Posted on March 26, 2007 at 6:05 AM in @earthlink
Note: The below is an archived entry from Earthling, formerly EarthLink's official blog. The blog itself has been decommissioned and is no longer updated, and comments are trackbacks are no longer accepted.
This morning Helio announced the details of their new device featuring a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, the Ocean.
It's a dual-slider, meaning that if you slide it one way, a numerical keypad slides out from the bottom, and if you slide it the other way, a nice QWERTY keypad slides out from the side. Even with the double slide action, it's lighter, thinner, and smaller than the T-Mobile Sidekick 3, at 4.33” x 2.20” x .86” and 5.61 oz. I went on a QWERTY test drive binge recently and tried out most of the devices in stores now. I found just about all of the smartphone keyboard implementations(with the exception of the Sidekick 3 and MDA) kind of clumsy for extended messaging for one reason or another. The Ocean looks markedly smarter in terms of keyboard spacing and size compared to the current QWERTY contenders like the Dash and Blackjack, and it follows well in the footsteps of the T-Mobile Sidekick's thumb keyboard which until now has really been the only small keyboard I could use efficiently and enjoy doing so.
Like the keyboard layout, the on-board software is geared towards easy and integrated communication -- e-mail, texting, IM, telephony, picture messaging, photo uploading, searching, and web browsing. It has several new features and additions to the Helio UI specially customized for its unique design:
- A full HTML-enabled browser so that you can view all regular HTML web pages in addition to WAP -- including a fit-to-screen feature and Mini Map
- Support for Microsoft ActiveSync, so you can sync with Outlook and corporate Microsoft Exchange e-mail servers (along with IMAP/POP, EarthLink mail, Yahoo, AOL, Gmail, Hotmail, and Helio Mail support)
- Idle Search - I'm anxious to see this in action. When you flip out the keyboard and type, the Ocean automatically searches several sources for you (Wikipedia, Google, Yahoo, local search) and returns the results in a tabbed interface.
- A presence-enabled contact list that not only keeps track of all of your contacts across different communication platforms(IM, email, phone, etc), but also tells you when they're online/offline
- The option of geotagging when you take and upload photos via Helio-UP, which is an easy way to keep track of and list exactly where you took each photo
- USB mass storage mode for both Macs and Windows machines, so that you can move files on and off the Ocean from either platform via drag and drop
- Support for more audio formats, including all of the PlaysForSure services like Yahoo!, Napster, and Windows DRM
It also has all of the features that have become staples of Helio's devices, including 3G connectivity, on-board GPS hardware and software, a great still and video camera, and excellent audio hardware -- in this case with two external stereo speakers. It's official release date is Spring '07 and is expected to be priced around $295.
I'll update this entry with links to additional coverage at the bottom. The Ocean follows the recent announcement of the Heat, and the first Helio GPS-enabled device, the Drift.
Incidentally, you might have seen photos several weeks ago of a rumored Helio smartphone on Engadget Mobile, CrunchGear and Gizmodo, and it looks like the Ocean is that device.
Update:
SlashGear: "It’s an awesome handset, and you can well believe it when Helio say that not only is Ocean the device the company was born to offer, but that it was in development even before the company was founded."
Josh Hallett is pondering going Ocean instead of iPhone's first iteration: "Even though I am a huge Apple fanboy I might wait for version two of the iPhone. Who knows, perhaps Helio will have something better :-)"
Comments
Finally we have a sidekick killer
Posted by James | April 2, 2007 2:59 PM
very,very,VERY smart the ocean cost less than the sidekick 3 and offer more. i will buy the ocean just for these reason, i am a game and love to browse the web. and only 72 dollar a month and that include tv service which you can download video and 500min for texting, web,picture and video. please end of discussion
Posted by chuck | May 4, 2007 1:59 PM
can you email when the ocean helio comes out
please remind when comes out thank you very much
signed my emerald tashai mccullough
Posted by emerald tashai mccullough | May 5, 2007 12:56 PM
Hi Emerald,
You can sign up to get Helio updates via email over here: http://www.helio.com/page?p=signup
Posted by Dave C. | May 7, 2007 5:15 PM
Wow!
this is by far the best device ive seen since the sidekick. . .
ive been wanting one since it came out but cant seem to get it any less than its retail price
Posted by brian b | September 2, 2007 1:54 PM